Editorial: Pass ethics ordinance in time for primary election

When members of the grassroots organization VOCAL of Carroll County rekindled discussions over county government’s noncompliance with the state’s ethics law in November, one of the requests made by the group was that something be in place prior to the primary election in order to require that candidates file financial disclosure forms that would be available for the public to view.

Having that in place before the primary is important because, if history is any indication, that is the “real” election in Carroll County, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats about 2-1. As a public hearing was held on the county’s ethics ordinance Tuesday night, so, too, did the deadline to file for the primary election pass.

In the five district races for county commissioner, one is uncontested (District 2), but Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5 have two, two, four and four Republican candidates seeking office, respectively. In two of those races — Districts 1 and 5 — there is no Democrat seeking office, essentially rendering the general election moot. (And some may argue, even in races with a general election challenge, this might still be the case because of the disparity in party allegiance.) This underscores the need to have improved financial disclosure forms in place ahead of the primary.

Prior to the public hearing, Commissioner Richard Rothschild, who has been the most outspoken critic of the draft version of the ethics ordinance, gave a presentation in which he outlined some of its shortcomings. Some of these seem to be relatively quick — and fair — fixes in the language, such as changing the definition of “Business Entity” to remove language that a government entity does not fall under that definition, or the ability to redact exact street addresses for property that is owned outside of Carroll. It’s not clear, however, that other county commissioners agree or whether the votes exist to modify the ordinance in such a way.

According to the most recent notification from the State Ethics Commission, there are some other tweaks required before the commission will officially approve the county’s draft. The next meeting of the State Ethics Commission is April 19. That gives the Board of County Commissioners a little time to address concerns raised by Rothschild and the public Tuesday night, as well as those from the state commission, and submit a revised ordinance to keep pushing forward. Should another public hearing need to be scheduled, the county commissioners should act quickly to vote on any revisions by mid-March, which allows 30 days to advertise another public hearing that should be scheduled a few days after the State Ethics Commission could potentially approve the latest version. Doing so would allow the new ethics law to be in place a little more than a month before the start of early voting in the primary on June 14.

Carroll County is already years behind every other county in the state in being in compliance with the state law and every member of this Board of County Commissioners has already had plenty of time to address it, but neglected to do so until a group of citizens forced the issue. If any individual commissioner had great conviction that county ethics laws weren’t strong enough, they should’ve used their previous years on the board to address it.

County commissioners should take up the concerns raised Tuesday, but if the current board cannot agree on provisions that go above and beyond what the state requires in a timely fashion, it should leave that up to the next board and approve an ordinance now that complies with state law. Whether that ordinance isn’t “strong enough” in some eyes, it’s still a significant improvement over financial disclosure laws already in place and will lead to greater transparency in the upcoming elections.

At that point, candidates can make strengthening the county’s ethics ordinance beyond state law a campaign issue and let the public decide with their votes.

Crews from New Windsor and surrounding fire companies were still working to control a house fire in the 1600 block of Bowersox Road, more than an hour after the blaze began Thursday.

Crews from New Windsor and surrounding fire companies were still working to control a house fire in the 1600 block of Bowersox Road, more than an hour after the blaze began Thursday.

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Crews from New Windsor and surrounding fire companies were still working to control a house fire in the 1600 block of Bowersox Road, more than an hour after the blaze began Thursday.

Crews from New Windsor and surrounding fire companies were still working to control a house fire in the 1600 block of Bowersox Road, more than an hour after the blaze began Thursday.

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Volunteers from Camden Cares make needed renovation to the Hampstead home of Melissa and Jonathan Meadows Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. Jonathan Meadows, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a retired sergeant first class of the Army National Guard who was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and PTSD.

Volunteers from Camden Cares make needed renovation to the Hampstead home of Melissa and Jonathan Meadows Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. Jonathan Meadows, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a retired sergeant first class of the Army National Guard who was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and PTSD.

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The town of Hampstead held its annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Banner Display at Main Street Memorial Park in Hampstead Friday, Nov. 30, 2018.

The town of Hampstead held its annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Banner Display at Main Street Memorial Park in Hampstead Friday, Nov. 30, 2018.

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Mr. and Ms. Claus led the tree lighting ceremony for the city of Westminster Saturday, Nov. 24 despite a downpour.

Mr. and Ms. Claus led the tree lighting ceremony for the city of Westminster Saturday, Nov. 24 despite a downpour.

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Human Service Programs of Carroll County has a Neighbors in Need Year Round fund to fill gaps in its existing programs and leverage. Neighbors in Need Year Round is one of the beneficiaries of Holiday Hope, an annual campaign with the Carroll County Times.

Human Service Programs of Carroll County has a Neighbors in Need Year Round fund to fill gaps in its existing programs and leverage. Neighbors in Need Year Round is one of the beneficiaries of Holiday Hope, an annual campaign with the Carroll County Times.